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House of Representatives

Statute Law Revision Bill 2013

Explanatory Memorandum

(Circulated by the authority of the Attorney-General, the Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP)

General Outline and Financial Impact Statement

General Outline

The main purpose of this Bill is to correct technical errors that have occurred in Acts as a result of drafting and clerical mistakes.

This Bill also contains amendments to:

(a)
make amendments consequential on amendments to the Interpretation Act 1901 and the enactment of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003; and
(b)
repeal spent and obsolete provisions and Acts (which will result in the repeal of approximately 100 pages of spent and obsolete provisions); and
(c)
modernise language and make other technical amendments in certain legislation.

The corrections and repeals are desirable in order to improve the quality of the text of Commonwealth legislation and, in particular, to facilitate the publication of consolidated versions of Acts by the Commonwealth and by private publishers of legislation.

None of the corrections makes any change to the substance of the law.

Financial Impact Statement

This Bill will have no financial impact.

statement of compatibility with human rights

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

Statute Law Revision Bill 2013

This Bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Overview of the Bill

The main purpose of this Bill is to correct technical errors that have occurred in Acts as a result of drafting and clerical mistakes.

The corrections and repeals are desirable in order to improve the quality of the text of Commonwealth legislation and, in particular, to facilitate the publication of consolidated versions of Acts by the Commonwealth and by private publishers of legislation.

None of the corrections makes any change to the substance of the law.

Human rights implications

The amendments make technical corrections and technical improvements to legislation. They also repeal obsolete provisions and Acts. The amendments improve the ease of administration of legislation and reduce the regulatory burden. They do not engage any human rights issues.

Conclusion

The Bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011, as it does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms or alter any human rights safeguards currently in place.

Notes on clauses

Clause 1-Short title

1 Clause 1 provides for the Act to be cited as the Statute Law Revision Act 2013.

Clause 2-Commencement

2 Subclause 2(1) provides that each provision of the Act specified in column 1 of the table set out in the subclause commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

3 The note at the end of the table explains that the table relates only to the provisions of the Act as originally enacted. The table will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of the Act.

4 Subclause 2(2) provides that any information in column 3 of the table is not part of the Act. It also clarifies that information may be inserted in column 3, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of the Act.

5 The items in Schedule 1 to the Bill amend various technical errors in principal Acts. The items in Part 1 of Schedule 1 commence on the day the Act receives the Royal Assent. This is because the "slip rule" would have been applied to each error since the enactment of the erroneous provision. This means that the text of the law would have been taken to have been correct, despite the error.

6 Current Commonwealth drafting practice is to avoid retrospective commencement where practicable. Given the application of the "slip rule", it is appropriate for these amendments to commence on Royal Assent. The amendments ensure that the text of the law accords with how it would be interpreted.

7 Other amendments relate to errors in numbering, grammatical errors or changes in drafting style, and it is appropriate that these amendments commence on the day the Act receives the Royal Assent because they do not change the substantive content of the law.

8 The item in Part 2 of Schedule 1 commences on 18 November 2012. It recasts a section of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 to remove a reference to a section that was repealed by item 4 of Schedule 1 to the Commonwealth Government Securities Legislation Amendment (Retail Trading) Act 2012 on that date. Although the amendment is retrospective, various interpretative laws, such as section 10A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, and the application of the "slip rule", mean that the text of the law would have been taken to have been correct from 18 November 2012, despite the error.

9 The items in Part 3 of Schedule 1 commence at the later of Royal Assent and immediately after the commencement of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Serious Drugs, Identity Crime and Other Measures) Act 2012. Part 3 has a prospective commencement.

10 The items in Schedule 2 to the Bill relate to misdescribed or redundant amendments, or to errors, contained in amending Acts. The commencement of items dealing with misdescribed amendments, or amendments where the location of the amendment is unclear, is tied to the time specified in the amending Act for the commencement of the amendment. Other items repeal amendments that have become redundant. Those items commence on the day the Act receives the Royal Assent.

11 Schedule 3 to the Bill makes amendments consequential on amendments to the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 and the enactment of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 and includes appropriate consequential and saving provisions. A few of the amendments also encompass the repeal of any redundant cross-references. The Schedule is to commence on the day the Act receives the Royal Assent.

12 Schedule 4 to the Bill repeals obsolete provisions of Acts. The Schedule is to commence on the day the Act receives the Royal Assent.

13 Schedule 5 to the Bill repeals obsolete Acts. The Schedule is to commence on the day the Act receives the Royal Assent.

Clause 3-Schedule(s)

14 Clause 3 provides that each Act specified in a Schedule to the Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule and any other item in a Schedule has effect according to its terms. This is a technical provision to give operational effect to the amendments contained in the Schedules.

Schedule 1-Amendment of principal Acts

15 The items in this Schedule amend errors contained in principal Acts.

Part 1-Amendments commencing on Royal Assent

Items 1 to 8

16 Items 1 to 8 are related. Item 7 of Schedule 11 to the Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Act 2010 repealed Part 4B of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005. That Part included a section 193X. Notes to subsections 22(1), 35(4A), 35(6) and 35(11) of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 refer to things that may be done under section 193X. The notes are redundant and items 2, 4, 6 and 8 repeal them. Items 1, 3, 5 and 7 make consequential amendments renaming the remaining notes to subsections 22(1), 35(4A), 35(6) and 35(11) of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 "Note" rather than "Note 1" as, once the repeals are made, there will be no other notes to the subsections.

Item 9

17 Item 9 repeals section 38 of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. That section is redundant as it applies only if the Minister receives a copy of a report under section 193X of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005 and item 7 of Schedule 11 to the Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Act 2010 repealed Part 4B of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005, which included section 193X.

Item 10

18 Item 7 of Schedule 11 to the Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Act 2010 repealed Part 4B of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005. That Part included a section 193X. The note to subsection 64(4) of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 refers to things that may be done under section 193X. The note is redundant and item 10 repeals it.

Items 11 and 12

19 Items 11 and 12 are related. Item 7 of Schedule 11 to the Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Act 2010 repealed Part 4B of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005. That Part included a section 193X. A note to subsection 67B(7) of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 refers to things that may be done under section 193X. The note is redundant and item 12 repeals it. Item 11 makes a consequential amendment renaming the remaining note to subsection 67B(7) of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 "Note" rather than "Note 1" as, once the repeal is made, there will be no other notes to that subsection.

Item 13

20 Item 13 corrects incorrect punctuation in subsection 77C(1) of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 by replacing "Part, 2" with "Part 2". The error occurred when item 1 of Schedule 3 to the Indigenous Affairs Legislation Amendment Act 2008 amended that subsection.

Item 14

21 Paragraph (b) of the definition of community care facility in subsection 71A(3) of the Airports Act 1996 consists only of text that refers to "a nursing home within the meaning given by the National Health Act 1953". However, the concept of a "nursing home" is no longer in the National Health Act 1953. Therefore, paragraph (b) of the definition of community care facility in subsection 71A(3) of the Airports Act 1996 is redundant. Item 14 repeals that redundant paragraph.

Item 15

22 Subparagraph (c)(ia) of the definition of income tax refund in subsection 3(1) of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999 was inserted by the Higher Education Support (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2003 on 1 January 2004. The subparagraph only refers to section 154-60 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003. That reference became redundant as a result of the Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation (2006 Budget and Other Measures) Act 2006 retrospectively replacing the definition on 1 July 2002 with a definition that included a subparagraph (c)(ii) that refers to section 154-60 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003. The retrospective replacement means that the amendment that commenced on 1 January 2004 included a redundant reference to section 154-60 of the Higher Education Support Act 2003 in the replacement definition. Item 15 repeals that redundant reference and subparagraph.

Item 16

23 Item 16 omits a reference in subsection 118(2) of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999 to subsection (2A) of section 118, which was repealed by item 85 of Schedule 5 to the Child Support Legislation Amendment (Reform of the Child Support Scheme-New Formula and Other Measures) Act 2006.

Item 17

24 Item 17 replaces a comma with a semicolon at the end of paragraph 8(1)(a) of the Anti-Personnel Mines Convention Act 1998. This corrects the punctuation at the end of the paragraph.

Items 18 and 19

25 Items 18 and 19 are related. These items correct out-of-date references in section 46 of the Australian Institute of Marine Science Act 1972 to the Air Accidents (Commonwealth Liability) Act 1963. The short title of the Air Accidents (Commonwealth Liability) Act 1963 was changed (by the Air Accidents (Commonwealth Government Liability) Amendment Act 1978) to the Air Accidents (Commonwealth Government Liability) Act 1963 and amendments were made across the statute book changing references to the short title of the Act. However, a consequential change was not made to references in section 46 of the Australian Institute of Marine Science Act 1972. Items 18 and 19 correct these oversights.

Item 20

26 Item 20 fixes incorrect punctuation by amending the note at the end of subsection 11(4) of the Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry Act 1997. It inserts a missing full stop after the word "offence" at the end of the note.

Item 21

27 Paragraph 63(1A)(f) of the Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry Act 1997 contains a cross-reference to "paragraph 3(1)(a) and (2)(a)", which should be to "paragraphs 3(1)(a) and (2)(a)". Item 21 fixes this grammatical error.

Item 22

28 The only words in subsection 70(3) of the Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry Act 1997 are "In this section:". Since there are no longer any definitions in that subsection it is redundant. Item 22 repeals that subsection.

Item 23

29 Section 34ZU of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 refers to "warrant issued this Division", which should be to "warrant issued under this Division". Item 23 fixes this grammatical error.

Item 24

30 Subsection 18A(4) of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 refers to paragraph 21(b) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901. However that paragraph was renumbered as paragraph 21(1)(b) as a result of an amendment by item 37 of Schedule 1 to the Public Employment (Consequential and Transitional) Amendment Act 1999. Item 24 corrects the cross-reference.

Item 25

31 Section 130ZVA of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 concerns categories for "subscription television movie services". Under subparagraph 130ZVA(3)(a)(i) services can be nominated to be "Category A subscription television movie services". However, subparagraph 130ZVA(3)(a)(iii) refers back to this nomination process but then mislabels the services as "Category A subscription television entertainment services" rather than "Category A subscription television movie services". Item 25 corrects this error.

Item 26

32 Section 130ZVA of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 concerns categories for "subscription television movie services". Under subparagraph 130ZVA(3)(a)(ii) services can be nominated to be "Category B subscription television movie services". However, subparagraph 130ZVA(3)(a)(iv) refers back to this nomination process but then mislabels the services as "Category B subscription television entertainment services" rather than "Category B subscription television movie services". Also, subparagraph 130ZVA(3)(a)(iv) concerns a single service not plural services. Item 26 corrects these errors.

Item 27

33 Section 130ZW of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 concerns categories for "subscription television general entertainment services". Under subparagraph 130ZW(3)(a)(i) services can be nominated to be "Category A subscription television general entertainment services". However, subparagraph 130ZW(3)(a)(iii) refers back to this nomination process but then mislabels the services as "Category A subscription television entertainment services" rather than "Category A subscription television general entertainment services". Item 27 corrects this error.

Item 28

34 Section 130ZW of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 concerns categories for "subscription television general entertainment services". Under subparagraph 130ZW(3)(a)(ii) services can be nominated to be "Category B subscription television general entertainment services". However, subparagraph 130ZW(3)(a)(iv) refers back to this nomination process but then mislabels the services as "Category B subscription television entertainment services" rather than "Category B subscription television general entertainment services". Item 28 corrects this error.

Item 29

35 Item 29 repeals the redundant heading to Division 5 of Part 2 of the Broadcasting Services (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1992. That Division used to consist of section 22. Section 22 was repealed by the Broadcasting Services Legislation Amendment Act 1997, but the Division heading was not repealed by that Act even though all the content of the Division had been repealed.

Item 30

36 Item 257 of Schedule 1 to the Clean Energy (Consequential Amendments) Act 2011 repealed the only section in Division 3 of Part 12 of the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Act 2011. Since Division 3 no longer contains any provisions, the heading to that Division is redundant. Item 30 repeals the heading.

Item 31

37 Subsections 64(1) and (3) of the Clean Energy Act 2011 contain the text "natural gas liquefied petroleum gas", which should be "natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas". Item 31 fixes this grammatical error.

Item 32

38 Subparagraph 6(2)(b)(i) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 contains the text "sections, 45, 45B", which should be "sections 45, 45B". Item 32 fixes this punctuation error.

Item 33

39 Subsections 19A(4) and (5) of the Customs Tariff Act 1995 contain the text "subsection (1), or (2)", which should be "subsection (1) or (2)". Item 33 fixes this punctuation error.

Item 34

40 Paragraph 84E(3)(a) of the Defence Forces Retirement Benefits Act 1948 contains a spelling mistake as it refers to "classifed" rather than "classified". Item 34 corrects that spelling error.

Item 35

41 Section 61C of the Excise Act 1901 concerns the granting of "permission to deliver goods for home consumption without entry". Paragraph 61C(3)(d) refers to a person having "permission to enter goods of a kind mentioned in subparagraph (1)(b)(ii)". However, subparagraph 61(1)(b)(ii) only mentions goods to be delivered for home consumption . There is no other reference in the Act to the concept of "permission to enter goods", only a concept of "permission to deliver goods for home consumption " used throughout the provision. Item 35 omits the non-existent concept and substitutes the correct one.

Items 36 to 46

42 Items 36 to 46 are related. Items 36 to 45 make technical changes to various sections of the Export Inspection and Meat Charges Collection Act 1985. The changes ensure the provisions accord with current drafting style by spelling "authorize" (and its other grammatical forms) with an "s", instead of a "z", and to ensure consistency with other provisions of that Act. Item 46 is an application provision that ensures the technical change to the spelling cannot invalidate previous "authorizations".

Item 47

43 Item 47 fixes incorrect punctuation by amending paragraph 713(2)(c) of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the last paragraph of subsection 713(2)) to replace a semicolon after the word "document" with a full stop.

Item 48

44 The note to section 148 of the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 is intended to refer readers to provisions that deal with the conduct of officers and employees. However, it refers to "Part 4 of Chapter 8", which relates to access to organisations' books. Chapter 9 relates to conduct of officers and employees. Item 48 corrects the cross-reference.

Item 49

45 The current definition of social security benefit in subsection 3(1) of the Farm Household Support Act 1992 is not in its correct alphabetical place in the list of definitions. Item 49 places the definition in the correct alphabetical order.

Item 50

46 The current definition of fish receiver permit in subsection 4(1) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 is not in its correct alphabetical place in the list of definitions. Item 50 places the definition in the correct alphabetical order.

Item 51

47 The only text in paragraph 48(1A)(a) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 is a cross-reference to section 49 of that Act. However, section 49 of that Act was repealed by item 19 of Schedule 1 to the Fisheries Legislation Amendment Act 2010. Item 51 repeals paragraph 48(1A)(a) of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 removing the redundant reference.

Items 52 to 54

48 Items 52 to 54 are related. Paragraph 203AE(7)(b), paragraph 203AH(4)(b) and the note to subsection 203DF(1) of the Native Title Act 1993 relate to audits under Part 4B of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005. Item 7 of Schedule 11 to the Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Act 2010 repealed Part 4B of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Act 2005. Paragraph 203AE(7)(b), paragraph 203AH(4)(b) and the note to subsection 203DF(1) of the Native Title Act 1993 are redundant. Items 52 to 54 repeal those provisions.

Item 55

49 The note to subsection 178(1) of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 refers to "Subdivision A (administrative process) or Subdivision B (judicial process) of Division 3" of the Part that it is in (Part 5.6). However, Part 5.6 has no Division 3 and ends at Division 2, which has Subdivisions with those subject matters. Item 55 corrects the cross-reference.

Item 56

50 Note 1 to the definition of ordinary income in subsection 8(1) of the Social Security Act 1991 refers to "subsection 10(1)". However, section 10 is not divided into subsections. Item 56 corrects the cross-reference.

Item 57

51 Note 2 to subsection 23(10) of the Social Security Act 1991 refers to "sections 610 and 691". However, those sections have been repealed. Subsection 23(1) contains a definition of the term ordinary waiting period . Item 57 corrects the cross-reference. It also renumbers "Note 2" as "Note" as there are no longer any other notes to subsection 23(10) and ensures that the text of the note begins with a capital letter.

Item 58

52 Paragraph 93WC(2)(aa) of the Social Security Act 1991 has a repeated conjunction at the end. Item 58 removes the second of the conjunctions.

Item 59

53 Subsection 552A(1) of the Social Security Act 1991 refers to "paragraph 552(b)" of the Act. However, there is no paragraph 552(b). The correct paragraph is 552(2)(b) of the Act, which refers to section 552A. Item 59 corrects the cross-reference.

Item 60

54 Note 4 to subsection 598(1) of the Social Security Act 1991 refers to "for serving the liquid assets test waiting period see subsection 23(10)". However, subsection 23(10A) deals with when persons are subject to a liquid assets test waiting period, not subsection 23(10). Item 60 corrects the cross-reference.

Items 61 and 62

55 Items 61 and 62 are related. Note 3 to subsection 680(3) of the Social Security Act 1991 indicates that subsections 680(1) and (2) of the Act are relevant to the impact of the value of assets of partners on the value of a person's assets. However, subsection 680(1) does not deal with this matter and subsection 680(2) has been repealed. Subsections 681(1) and (2) instead deal with the relevant matters. Items 61 and 62 correct the cross-references.

Item 63

56 Note 1 to subsection 29A(2) of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 amended by item 63 is the only note under the relevant text of subsection 29A(2). Item 63 omits the unnecessary note number.

Item 64

57 Item 64 renumbers the subsection 29VA(9) of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993, inserted by item 33 of Schedule 1 to the Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Further MySuper and Transparency Measures) Act 2012, as subsection (9A) to prevent two subsections having the same number.

Items 65 to 68

58 Items 65 to 68 are related. Throughout the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 (the Commonwealth Act ) are cross-references to various provisions of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption Act 2012 of South Australia (the South Australian Act ). Four of those cross-references are incorrect.

59 There are references to "the Deputy Commissioner referred to in section 8" of the South Australian Act in subparagraph (ia)(ii) of the definition of certifying officer in subsection 5(1) of the Commonwealth Act, subparagraph (m)(ii) of the definition of officer in subsection 5(1) of the Commonwealth Act and in subparagraph 39(2)(j)(ii) of the Commonwealth Act. However, section 8 of the South Australian Act concerns the Commissioner. Section 9 of the South Australian Act concerns the Deputy Commissioner. Items 65, 67 and 68 correct the cross-references.

60 There is a reference in the definition of member of the staff of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption in subsection 5(1) of the Commonwealth Act to "a person who is engaged under subsection 10(1)" of the South Australian Act. However, subsection 10(1) of the South Australian Act concerns pension rights. Subsection 12(1) of the South Australian Act concerns employees. Item 66 corrects this cross-reference.

Item 69

61 Paragraph 45UUC(2)(aa) of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 has a repeated conjunction at the end. Item 69 removes the second of the conjunctions.

Item 70

62 Paragraph 45UUC(2)(ab) of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 does not have a conjunction at the end, despite being followed by an additional paragraph. Item 70 inserts the missing conjunction.

Item 71

63 The note to subsection 198GA(1) of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 refers to amounts "provided for in column 4 of the table in subpoint SCH6-C8". However, as subsection 198GA(1) makes clear, those amounts are provided for instead in column 4 of the table in subpoint SCH6-C8(1). Item 71 corrects the cross-reference.

Item 72

64 Subparagraph 199(c)(iii) of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 has a repeated conjunction at the end. Item 72 removes the second of the conjunctions.

Part 2-Amendments commencing on 18 November 2012

Item 73 65 Subparagraph 8(1)(jc)(i) of the Personal Property Securities Act 2009 refers to "section 6 of the Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act 1911". That section has been repealed by item 4 of Schedule 1 to the Commonwealth Government Securities Legislation Amendment (Retail Trading) Act 2012. Item 73 removes that reference and recasts paragraph 8(1)(jc).

Part 3-Other amendments

Item 74

66 Item 74 removes an unnecessary use of the word "section" in subsection 51A(1) of the Customs Act 1901 that resulted from an amendment made by item 20 of Schedule 1 to the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Serious Drugs, Identity Crime and Other Measures) Act 2012.

Item 75

67 Item 75 removes an unnecessary repetition of the word "section" in subsection 112A(1) of the Customs Act 1901 that resulted from an amendment made by item 21 of Schedule 1 to the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Serious Drugs, Identity Crime and Other Measures) Act 2012.

Item 76

68 Item 76 removes an unnecessary repetition of the word "section" in subsection 112A(3) of the Customs Act 1901 that resulted from an amendment made by item 22 of Schedule 1 to the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Serious Drugs, Identity Crime and Other Measures) Act 2012.

Schedule 2-Amendment of amending Acts

69 The items in this Schedule relate to misdescribed or redundant amendments, or errors contained in amending Acts.

Item 1

70 Item 29 of Schedule 1 to the Aviation Transport Security Amendment (Air Cargo) Act 2011 purported to amend paragraph 79(3)(b) of the Aviation Transport Security Act 2004 to omit "or accredited cargo agent concerned (or both)" and substitute "concerned". However, the amendment was misdescribed as the words in the text to be omitted are "or accredited air cargo agent concerned (or both)". Item 1 corrects the misdescription.

Items 2 to 5

71 Items 2 to 5 are related. Items 47, 49, 63 and 65 of Schedule 2 to the Clean Energy Legislation Amendment Act 2012 purported to amend subsections 59(5), 59(6), 60(5) and 60(6) of the Clean Energy Act 2011 to insert "(3A), (3B)," after "(3),". However, the amendments were misdescribed as "(3)" but not "(3)," appears in those subsections. Items 2 to 5 correct the misdescriptions. These items also make grammatical improvements to the amending items by ensuring the amended text will have a comma between the cross-references to"(3)" and "(3A)" and ensuring no comma will be between the cross-references to"(3B)" and "(4)".

Item 6

72 Item 25 of Schedule 1 to the Corporations Amendment (Further Future of Financial Advice Measures) Act 2012 purported to amend paragraph 965(a) of the Corporations Act 2001 to substitute text for the words "for the sole or dominant purpose". However, the amendment was misdescribed as there is no paragraph 965(a). The amendment was actually intended to be of paragraph 965(1)(a) in which those words do occur. Item 6 corrects the misdescription so that the item heading of item 25 correctly refers to paragraph 965(1)(a) of the Corporations Act 2001.

Item 7

73 Item 42 of Schedule 1 to the Corporations Legislation Amendment (Derivative Transactions) Act 2012 purported to amend subsection 1324B(1) of the Corporations Act 2001. However, the amendment was misdescribed as there is no subsection 1324B(1) of that Act (as section 1324B is not divided into subsections). The amendment was actually intended to be of section 1324B. Item 7 corrects the misdescription so that the item heading of item 42 correctly refers to section 1324B of the Corporations Act 2001.

Item 8

74 Item 17 of Schedule 5 to the Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Election Commitments and Other Measures) Act 2011 purported to amend subparagraph 123YE(2)(c)(ii) of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 to omit "or". However, the amendment was misdescribed as the word "or" appears twice in that subparagraph. Item 8 corrects the misdescription.

Item 9

75 Item 242 of Schedule 1 to the Financial Framework Legislation Amendment Act 2005 purported to omit the word "Reserve" from subsection 41(4) of the Natural Heritage Trust of Australia Act 1997 and substitute the word "Account". However, the amendment was misdescribed as there were 2 occurrences of the word "Reserve" and the item did not describe which of those occurrences should be amended. The amendment was actually intended to omit both occurrences. Item 9 corrects the misdescription so that the item covers both occurrences.

Item 10

76 Item 141 of Schedule 1 to the Personal Property Securities (Corporations and Other Amendments) Act 2010 purports to amend paragraph (a) of the definition of decision period in section 9 of the Corporations Act 2001 to omit "chargee" and substitute "secured party". However, items 49 and 53 of Schedule 1 to the Personal Property Securities (Corporations and Other Amendments) Act 2010 made the same amendment. Therefore, item 141 of Schedule 1 to that Act is redundant. Item 10 repeals the redundant item.

Item 11

77 Items 9, 10, 12 and 13 of Schedule 3 to the Personal Property Securities (Corporations and Other Amendments) Act 2010 purport to amend sections 490 and 500 of the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Act 2006. Those sections had already been repealed by items 215 and 239 of Schedule 2 to the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (National Regulator) Act 2011. Therefore, the amending items are redundant. Item 11 repeals the redundant amending items.

Item 12

78 Item 2 of Schedule 10 to the Primary Industries Levies and Charges (Consequential Amendments) Act 1999 purported to amend paragraphs 64(1)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g) and (h) of the Australian Meat and Live-stock Industry Act 1997 to insert the word "repealed" after "of the". However, the amendment was misdescribed as those words do not appear in the paragraphs that were purported to be amended. The amendment was actually intended to be of paragraphs 63(1)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g) and (h), in which those words do occur. Item 12 corrects the misdescription.

Item 13

79 Item 25 of Schedule 4 to the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Disability Support Pension Participation Reforms) Act 2012 purports to repeal sub-subparagraphs 1139(2)(b)(iv)(A) and (B) of the Social Security Act 1991. However, paragraph 32(a) of the Social Security Legislation Amendment Act (No. 2) 1994 made the same amendment. Therefore, item 25 of Schedule 4 to the Social Security and Other Legislation Amendment (Disability Support Pension Participation Reforms) Act 2012 is redundant. Item 13 repeals the redundant item.

Items 14 and 15

80 Items 14 and 15 are related. Item 14 of Schedule 2 to the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2012 purported to amend subsection 70E(18) of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 to omit "(14), (15), and (17)" and substitute "(14) and (15)". Item 15 of Schedule 2 to the Stronger Futures in the Northern Territory (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Act 2012 purported to amend subsections 70E(19), (20) and (21) of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 to omit "(14), (15), or (17)" and substitute "(14) or (15)". However, the amendments were misdescribed as subsections 70E(18), (19), (20) and (21) don't have a comma after the references to "(15)". Items 14 and 15 correct the misdescriptions.

Item 16

81 Item 27 of the Schedule to the Transport Legislation Amendment Act (No. 2) 1995 purported to amend paragraphs 5(1)(a) and (b) of the Crimes (Aviation) Act 1991. However, the amendment was misdescribed as there have never been any paragraphs 5(1)(a) and (b). The amendment was actually intended to be of paragraphs 5(a) and (b). Item 16 corrects the misdescription so that the item heading of item 27 correctly refers to paragraphs 5(a) and (b) of the Crimes (Aviation) Act 1991.

Schedule 3-Amendments relating to Acts of general Application

82 The items in this Schedule contain amendments that are consequential on earlier amendments to the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 and the enactment of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

Part 1-Acting appointments

83 These items amend various acting appointment provisions of Commonwealth Acts to remove provisions providing that anything done by or in relation to a person purporting to act under an appointment is not invalid merely because of various matters. Those provisions are redundant as section 33AB of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 now deals with this. Notes have been included in those recent acting appointment provisions referring to the general acting appointment rules in sections 33AB and 33A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901.

84 Several items also update notes that only refer to section 33A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 so that they also refer to section 33AB of that Act.

85 Item 10 is a saving provision which provides certainty that the amendments made by this Part do not affect the validity of an appointment that was made under an Act, before the commencement of that item, and that was in force immediately before that commencement.

Part 2-Prescribing matters by reference to other instruments

86 Section 49A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 was repealed by item 7 of Schedule 1 to the Legislative Instruments (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 2003. The content of the repealed section 49A is now replicated in section 14 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

87 This Part amends two Acts to update references to section 49A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901 to references to section 14 of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

Part 3-Disallowable instruments

88 Each of the items in this Part amend various Acts to update the text of Acts that still refer to an instrument being a disallowable instrument for the purposes of section 46A of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901, or that still provide for an instrument to be disallowed under Part XII of that Act, as in force before 1 January 2005. This reflects the legal position that the instrument is already a legislative instrument under paragraph 6(d) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003 and that, in various cases, Gazettal requirements are covered by subsection 56(2) of that Act. This Part also contains various consequential amendments (for example, item 140 removes a subsection number "(1)" that will become redundant when the other subsections in its section are repealed).

89 Item 179 repeals subsections 266(3) and (4) of the Radiocommunications Act 1992 in reliance on subsection 12(1) of the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.

90 Item 301 also repeals a redundant reference in subsection 20B(4) of the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999 to subsection 20B(3) of that Act, which has been repealed.

91 Item 343 is a saving provision which makes it clear that the amendments made by this Part do not affect the validity of an instrument made before the commencement of this Part.

Schedule 4-Repeal of obsolete provisions

Part 1-Spent repeals and amendments

92 Some older principal Acts on the statute book contain provisions repealing and amending other Acts. Those provisions are now obsolete. To reduce the length of those principal Acts and to make the publishing of those principal Acts more efficient, most of the items in this Schedule repeal those obsolete provisions and make minor consequential amendments.

Item 1

93 Item 1 repeals Part VII of the Aboriginal Land Grant (Jervis Bay Territory) Act 1986, which amended the Jervis Bay Territory Acceptance Act 1915. As those amendments have taken effect, that Part is obsolete.

Item 2

94 Item 2 repeals Parts 10 to 13 of the Child Support (Assessment) Act 1989, which amended various Acts. As those amendments have taken effect, those Parts are obsolete.

Item 3

95 Item 3 repeals Part IV of the Crimes (Currency) Act 1981, which amended various other Acts. The amendments within the Part had previously been repealed but the Division headings had not. Item 3 repeals the Part including the Division headings.

Item 4

96 Item 4 repeals Schedule 2 to the Defence Force (Home Loans Assistance) Act 1990, which amended the Defence Service Homes Act 1918. As those amendments have taken effect, that Schedule is obsolete.

Items 5 and 6

97 Items 5 and 6 repeal Part 11 of, and the Schedule to, the Farm Household Support Act 1992. The Schedule amended the Social Security Act 1991 and Part 11 gave effect to the Schedule. As those amendments have taken effect, that Part is obsolete.

Items 7 to 10

98 Items 7 to 10 repeal Divisions 6 to 8 of Part 4.4, and Divisions 1 to 3 and 5 of Part 4.5, of Chapter 4, and sections 121 to 124, of the Higher Education Funding Act 1988, which amended various Acts. As those amendments have taken effect, those provisions are obsolete.

Items 11 to 13

99 Items 11 to 13 are related. Items 12 and 13 repeal section 7 of, and Schedules 1 to 4 to, the Horticulture Marketing and Research and Development Services (Repeals and Consequential Provisions) Act 2000, which repealed and amended various Acts. As those repeals and amendments have taken effect or been superseded, those provisions are obsolete. Item 11 makes a minor amendment to the simplified outline in section 3 of that Act, and is consequential on item 13.

Item 14

100 Item 14 repeals Parts V and VI of the Housing Assistance Act 1978, which amended the States Grants (Housing) Act 1971 and the Housing Assistance Act 1973. As those amendments have taken effect, those Parts are obsolete.

Item 15

101 Item 15 repeals Part 5 of the Imported Food Control Act 1992, which amended the Customs Act 1901 and the Customs Administration Act 1985. As those amendments have taken effect, that Part is obsolete.

Item 16

102 Item 16 repeals Part VI of the Industry Research and Development Act 1986, which amended the Industrial Research and Development Incentives Act 1976. As those amendments have taken effect, that Part is obsolete.

Items 17 and 18

103 Items 17 and 18 repeal sections 229 and 230 of, and Schedule 2 to, the Patents Act 1990, which repealed the Patents Act 1952 and amended various Acts. As that repeal and those amendments have taken effect, those provisions are obsolete.

Item 19 and 20

104 Items 19 and 20 are related. Item 20 repeals Schedule 1 to the Pig Industry Act 2001, which repealed and amended various Acts and repealed the Pig Research and Development Corporation Regulations and item 19 repeals section 3 which gave effect to Schedule 1. As those amendments and repeals have taken effect (or been superseded in the case of item 3 of Schedule 1 which proposed to make an amendment that never commenced), they are obsolete. Schedule 1 also contained spent transitional provisions, which are being repealed as they are obsolete.

Items 21 to 24

105 Items 21 to 24 are related as they repeal provisions of the Postal and Telecommunications Commissions (Transitional Provisions) Act 1975 that are obsolete.

106 Items 21 and 23 repeal section 4 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Postal and Telecommunications Commissions (Transitional Provisions) Act 1975, which repealed various Acts. As those repeals have taken effect or been superseded, those provisions are obsolete.

107 Items 22 and 24 repeal subsection 38(1) of, and Schedule 2 to, the Postal and Telecommunications Commissions (Transitional Provisions) Act 1975, which amended various Acts. As those amendments have taken effect or been superseded, those provisions are obsolete.

Items 25 to 27

108 Items 25 to 27 repeal subsections 156(1) and (2) and section 157 of, and Schedules 1 and 2 to, the Primary Industries and Energy Research and Development Act 1989, which amended various Acts. As those amendments have taken effect, those provisions are obsolete.

Items 28 and 29

109 Items 28 and 29 repeal section 12 of, and Schedule 1 to, the Regional Forest Agreements Act 2002, which amended the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. As those amendments have taken effect, those provisions are obsolete.

Items 30 and 31

110 Items 30 and 31 repeal sections 11 and 12 of, and Schedules 2 and 3 to, the Rural Industries Research (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1985, which amended and repealed various Acts. As those amendments and repeals have taken effect, those provisions are obsolete.

Items 32 to 34

111 Items 32 and 34 repeal section 3 of, and Schedules 1 and 2 to, the Wool International Privatisation Act 1999, which amended the Wool International Act 1993 and the Wool Tax (Administration) Act 1964. As those amendments have taken effect, those provisions are obsolete.

112 Item 33 is consequential on the repeal of Schedule 2 to the Wool International Privatisation Act 1999 made by item 34. The existing definition of "conversion time" in subsection 7(1) of that Act refers to the time when that Schedule commenced (which was 1 July 1999). Item 33 amends this definition to refer to 1 July 1999.

Items 35 and 36

113 Items 35 and 36 are related. Item 36 repeals Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Wool Services Privatisation Act 2000, which repealed the Australian Wool Research and Promotion Organisation Act 1993 and amended various Acts. As that repeal and those amendments have taken effect, that Part is obsolete. Item 35 repeals and substitutes the heading to Schedule 1 to the Wool Services Privatisation Act 2000, and is consequential on item 36.

Part 2-Spent provisions

114 This Part repeals non-amending provisions that have been sunsetted or otherwise ceased to have effect.

Item 37

115 Item 37 repeals subsections 70(2BA), (2BB), (2BC) and (2BD) of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. Subsections (2BA) to (2BC) ceased to have effect at the end of the period of 5 years beginning on the day on which subsection (2BD) commenced (18 August 2007). Subsection (2BD) is also redundant as it has had its only effect.

Item 38

116 Item 38 repeals Division 12 of Part ID of the Crimes Act 1914. That Division contains one section (section 23YV) which provides for a review of the operation of Part ID. The review was to be undertaken as soon as possible after the first anniversary of the commencement of Schedule 1 to the Crimes Amendment (Forensic Procedures) Act 2001. That Act was assented to on 6 April 2001 and Schedule 1 commenced in 2001. The report was completed in March 2003 and tabled in Parliament. Subsection 23YV(5) provided for a further review of Part ID to be undertaken to consider any relevant recommendations of the earlier review. This further review commenced on 30 June 2010 and the report of the review was tabled in Parliament on 23 September 2010. As the relevant reviews and reports have been completed and tabled, the provision is now spent.

Items 39 to 43

117 Items 39 to 43 are related. Items 40, 42 and 43 repeal subsections 38(2) and (4) of, and Schedule 3 to, the Postal and Telecommunications Commissions (Transitional Provisions) Act 1975, which provided for citations of various Acts. Those citations have now been superseded as a result of the enactment of the Acts Citation Act 1976 so those provisions are obsolete. Items 39 and 41 make amendments consequential upon the repeals and on amendments of the Postal and Telecommunications Commissions (Transitional Provisions) Act 1975 in Part 1 of this Schedule.

Items 44 to 46

118 Items 44 to 46 are related. Paragraph 6(1)(d) of Schedule 3 to the Telecommunications Act 1997 has ceased to have practical effect since July 2000. Item 45 repeals that paragraph. Items 44 and 46 make consequential amendments relating to that repeal.

Item 47

119 Clause 49 of Schedule 3 to the Telecommunications Act 1997 required the Minister to cause to be conducted a review before 1 July 1998. The review was conducted and the clause has ceased to have practical effect. Item 47 repeals the spent clause.

Schedule 5-Repeal of obsolete Acts

Items 1 and 2

120 Items 1 and 2 are related. The Air Passenger Ticket Levy (Collection) Act 2001 (the Collection Act ) and the Air Passenger Ticket Levy (Imposition) Act 2001 (the Imposition Act ) were introduced on 1 October 2001, after the 12 September 2001 collapse of the Ansett group.

121 The legislation provided for a $10 levy to be placed on air tickets sold within Australia to fund (under the Special Employee Entitlements Scheme for Ansett group employees, or SEESA) the paying of: all unpaid wages, annual leave, long service leave, pay in lieu of notice and up to eight weeks of redundancy payments for former employees of the Ansett Group.

122 The levy remained in effect until 1 July 2003, as the then Minister for Transport and Regional Services notified in the Gazette (as per section 12 of the Collection Act) dated 18 June 2003 that the levy would conclude after June 2003.

123 The final SEESA report (as required under section 24 of the Collection Act), covering the year to March 2012, noted that all eligible former Ansett group employees have now received 100% of the SEESA payments they are entitled to and any further payments were the responsibility of the Ansett administrators, KordaMentha. KordaMentha advised the final distribution of funds occurred in September 2011.

124 With the levy no longer in effect and all funds collected having been allocated to former Ansett group employees as prescribed under SEESA, the Collection Act and the Imposition Act are no longer required and can be repealed.


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